Importance of Donor Education

Note:  Due by THURSDAY 8pm NEW YORK TIME 1 page APA format with reference page.

Education is an important tool in resource development. It can take donors to the next level of involvement with the organization. Through education, donors become more familiar with the cause or mission the organization supports and gain an understanding of how their donations will benefit the organization and the populations that it serves. Gaining such an understanding often makes donors feel more connected to the organization, and, in turn, motivates them to continue to give.

To prepare for this Discussion:

 

 

 

• Review Chapters 7 and 13, including the Appendices, in the course text Fundraising Basics: A Complete Guide. Pay particular attention to specific examples of mail, electronic, and print communications and how each might educate donors. Consider the importance of such strategies in the resource development process.
• Review your Application Assignment from this week and think about the education strategies you selected. Then consider how each might help convey efforts related to the mission of the organization and how each might be used to build or sustain a donor base.
• Think about why donors need to be continuously educated about organizational efforts and about how their donations are helping to support the mission or cause.
• Reflect on the importance of donor education in the resource development process.

With these thoughts in mind:

Post by THURSDAY 8pm New York Time an explanation of the importance of donor education in the resource development process, as it applies to the Young Life the NPO you are to write.

Background: Many Americans like to imagine the history of their nation as one of continual progress. While acknowledging that not all persons and groups enjoyed equal rights at all times, Americans often take it for granted that American history moves in only one direction: toward greater rights, greater freedom, and greater equality. This perspective makes it difficult for many Americans to understand the Reconstruction period and to place it in a broader historical narrative. The problem they face is that African Americans from roughly 1867 to 1875 enjoyed far more political influence and equal rights than they ever had before, or ever would again until the end of the modern Civil Rights Movement almost a century later. The fact that a group could be stripped of rights it once enjoyed is difficult for many Americans to accept, and so they often retreat into a false narrative, in which African Americans never gained any rights at all, and were abandoned to their fate as soon as slavery ended. In this model, the infamous Black Codes—which were in effect for less than a year—take center stage, and the various gains of Reconstruction get ignored.

Resources: Review the following resources about the differences between primary and secondary sources:

1. BeamLibrary. (2009, September 23).  Primary, secondary, tertiary sources . [Video file]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/L5DdedR_iF8
2. Review the How to Research Primary Sources and How to Research Secondary Sources in the Ashford Writing Center located in the Learning Resources tab in the left navigation bar.

When responding to the questions, draw from at least ONE of the following primary sources and specifically cite them in your post:

1. Bruce, B. K. (1876, March 31).  Speech in the Senate. Retrieved from http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1876-1900/blanche-k-bruce-speech-in-the-senate-march-31-1876.php 
2. Johnson, J. R. (1865, Aug. 4).  Northern teacher to the Freedmen’s Bureau commissioner.  Land and Labor, 1865, pp. 699-700. Retrieved from http://www.freedmen.umd.edu/J Johnson.htm
3. The Ku-Klux.  (1871, April 1). Harper’s Weekly, p. 281. Retrieved from http://education.harpweek.com/KKKHearings/Article23.htm
4. United States Congress. (1866, April 9).  Civil Rights Act.  Retrieved from http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/exhibits/reconstruction/section4/section4_civrightsact1.html

Also, draw from the material in ONE of the following films:

1. Kunhardt, P., Kunhardt, P., III, and Steiner, N. (Producers). (2002).  What is freedom?.  [Series Episode] from P. Kinhardt & S. Sheppard (Executive Producers) Freedom: A History of US. United States: PBS. Retrieved from http://digital.films.com/OnDemandEmbed.aspx?Token=44253&aid=18596&Plt=FOD&loid=0&w=640&h=480&ref=
2. Pollard, S. (Producer & Director). (2012).  Slavery by another name.  [Documentary]. United States: Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. Retrieved from http://video.pbs.org/video/2176766758/

Instructions:  After reviewing your Instructor’s Guidance and completing the weekly reading assignments (including those in the resource section below), please post a substantive discussion post of at least 200 words that analyzes the period of Reconstruction using the following questions as the basis of your analysis: 

• Were the goals of Radical Reconstruction feasible ones? 
• Is it possible to transform a society drastically by government action, or might attempts to do so prove counterproductive? 
• Would a more gradualist approach to extending rights to and establishing freedom for African Americans have been more successful?
• What would be the costs and dangers of such an approach?
• Your initial post should be no fewer than 200 words in length, which does not include works cited or the questions being answered. It should address all of the components of the question in a way that demonstrates independent, critical thought and command of the required material. It should not merely repeat the material in the textbook or other sources, but should use that material as the basis for an idiosyncratic interpretation of the topic. All sources need to be cited using proper APA format. If you borrow wording from a source, the wording absolutely must be marked as a quotation.

  In addition to your initial post, you should respond substantially, in posts of no fewer than 100 words, to at least two classmates and contribute to their analysis of the topic. When responding to classmates, you should refer to the material from one of the sources which you did not reference in your initial post. Identify important points which they may have missed which either support or challenge their interpretation. Explain how their views have made you rethink your own conclusions or offer perspectives which might help them regard the topic in a different way. Feel free to ask probing questions of your classmates, but, if you do, offer your own interpretation. That is, don’t just respond, “What do you think of X, Y, and Z?” Instead, respond, “What do you think of X?  I think W because of V, U, and T. On the other hand some might point to S and R.” In short, the ideal response to a classmate would involve you encouraging a classmate to see things from a new perspective, even as you clarify and develop your own thoughts as well.

The 2012 year-end adjusted balances taken from the general ledger of Cooperstown Services, Inc. are listed below in general ledger order.

Coopertown Suppliers, Inc.
	DR	CR
Cash	$12,950
Accounts receivable	28,150
Supplies	8,400
Prepaid insurance	9,500
Land	115,000
Buildings	360,000
Equipment	260,000
Accumulated depreciation		$239,900
Accounts payable		35,300
Salaries payable		7,300
Taxes payable Common stock		5,200 31,500
Additional paid-in capital – Common Retained earnings		15,400 427,600
Dividends	25,400
Service revenue		475,000
Salaries expense	335,600
Depreciation expense	25,100
Supplies expense	12,950
Insurance expense	8,200
Miscellaneous expense	30,850
Utilities expense	5,100
Total	$1,237,200	$1,237,200

Transfer these accounts and balances to a spreadsheet worksheet and prepare an Income statement, a Classified Balance Sheet, and a Statement of Retained Earnings all in good form using proper headings for each statement. Note that Cooperstown is a service company so there is no cost of goods sold in its chart of accounts. Also, assume that all the liabilities are current liabilities. Keep in mind that you should not report any accounts without balances in your statements.

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